2022 Fall Conference


2022 Fall Conferene flyer
Click on image for full-size PDF flyer.

Annual Fall Conference

Co-Hosted with the Global Antitrust Institute (GAI)
and the National Security Institute (NSI)

IP on the Wane:
Examining the Impacts
as IP Rights Are Reduced

Thursday, Sept. 22, & Friday, Sept. 23, 2022

Hosted in person at Mason Square
(formerly the Arlington Campus)

— 9.5 Hours VA CLE approved —

After decades of efforts by some to slow the perceived expansion of intellectual property rights (IPR) around the globe, policymakers and courts in a number of countries have responded by placing greater limitations on IPR. Now that such limits have been in effect for a few years, researchers have been able to start measuring the impact on innovators, creators, and the overall economy. C-IP2’s Annual Fall Conference brough together leading researchers, policymakers, creators, and innovators to share their experiences and results.

The conference featured a Keynote Lunch with virtual remarks from Senator Thom Tillis for North Carolina, and there were be 7 panels of experts covering several types of IP, as well as antitrust, and national security. C-IP2 concluded the conference with a Special Closing Reception for the Honorable John F. Witherspoon. Professor Witherspoon is a member of C-IP2’s Advisory Board, a Professor, and Director Emeritus, of Scalia Law’s Intellectual Property Program, which he ran for many years. John has been involved with Mason for 30 years, having first joined the faculty as an adjunct in 1992. Thank you to those who joined us to thank Professor Witherspoon for all his work for our school!

The conference was in-person only but has been recorded and posted to C-IP2’s YouTube channel.


Registration is now closed.


CONFERENCE MATERIALS

CLICK HERE to view the Virtual Program

CLICK HERE to view CLE Materials


2022 Law Rocks logoLaw Rocks Washington DC

Thursday, September 22, 2022
The 9:30 Club, Washington, D.C.

C-IP2 was pleased to feature the Seventh Annual Law Rocks Washington DC on the official conference program! Law Rocks DC was held at the 9:30 Club this September 22, 2022, and featured eight bands of legal professionals rocking out to benefit local nonprofits. Conference registrants were able to receive a discount off their conference tickets.

 To read about the 2022 Law Rocks DC event, please visit https://lawrocks.org/dca.


CONFERENCE PROGRAM

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2022

All times are in Eastern Daylight Time Zone (EDT)

12:00 – 1:00 PM:   REGISTRATION & CONTINENTAL LUNCH

1:00 – 1:10 PM:   WELCOMING REMARKS

    • Sean M. O’Connor, Professor of Law, George Mason University – Antonin Scalia Law School; Faculty Director, Center for Intellectual Property x Innovation Policy

1:10 – 2:40 PM:    PANEL 1: HOW WELL DOES THE ANTITRUST APPROACH FIT THE BIOPHARMACEUTICAL SPACE?

Many pharma-specific, sui generis legislative and regulatory regimes already exist, but many more have been proposed in the last couple of years in an effort to facilitate market entry of follow-on therapeutics. A few of these proposals would outright classify various practices using pharmaceutical patents and other exclusivities as antitrust violations. Almost all of the remaining proposals explicitly or implicitly rely on antitrust law and theory to support the idea that reining in patent and regulatory exclusivities are necessary to lower drug prices. The thought clearly underlying all of these proposals is that, absent these exclusivities, there would be increased “competition” within the pharmaceutical market.

    • Lee Branstetter, Professor of Economics and Public Policy, Carnegie Mellon University Heinz College of Information Systems and Public Policy
    • Gregory Dolin, Associate Professor of Law, University of Baltimore School of Law; Scholar, Center for Intellectual Property x Innovation Policy
    • David Korn, Vice President, Intellectual Property and Law, PhRMA
    • Kevin D. McDonald, Partner, Jones Day
    • Moderator: Emily Michiko Morris, David L. Brennan Endowed Chair, Associate Professor, and Associate Director of the Center for Intellectual Property Law & Technology, University of Akron School of Law; Senior Fellow for Life Science and Scholar, Center for Intellectual Property x Innovation Policy

2:40 – 3:00 PM:   BREAK

3:00 – 4:00 PM:   PANEL 2: THE GEOPOLITICS OF SEP ANTITRUST POLICY

Standard essential patent (SEP) policies continue to have outsized impacts on innovation and growth. This panel explores several active issues that face IP holders today. The first is China’s use of anti-suit injunctions and the ensuing response from U.S. and European courts. The second is the divergence between the FTC/DOJ’s pending policy shift on SEPs, the EU’s WTO complaint against China’s SEP policies, and the potential movement in EU SEP policy. The third is the extension of SSO/FRAND licensing model into the automotive sector (which has raised antitrust issues in US courts and among EU regulators).

    • Dr. Igor Nikolic, Research Fellow, European University Institute
    • Dr. Jorge Padilla, Senior Managing Director and Head, Compass Lexecon Europe
    • Wentong Zheng, Professor of Law, University of Florida Levin College of Law
    • Moderator: The Honorable Douglas H. Ginsburg, U.S. Court of Appeals; Professor of Law, George Mason University – Antonin Scalia Law School

4:00 – 4:15 PM:   BREAK

4:15 – 5:15 PM:   PANEL 3: IP & ANTITRUST

With the pending implementation of the Digital Markets Act (DMA) in the EU, the regulatory tools of interoperability, data sharing, and product design control have moved to the forefront of the debate in both antitrust and IP. Following the EU’s lead, the U.S. Congress is poised to pass similar legislation, which will have a wide-ranging impact on both innovation incentives and fundamental IP rights. Now more than ever, policy discussions are needed on the wisdom of having the government as the gatekeeper to digital markets and whether innovation can flourish under such as top-heavy, regulatory approach.

    • Alden Abbott, Senior Research Fellow, Mercatus Center, George Mason University; Former General Counsel, Federal Trade Commission
    • Dr. Jay Ezrielev, Founder & Managing Principal, Elevecon
    • Aurelien Portuese, PhD, Director, The Schumpeter Project | Information Technology and Innovation Foundation; Adjunct Professor, George Mason University – Antonin Scalia Law School
    • Christopher S. Yoo, John H. Chestnut Professor of Law, Communication, and Computer & Information Science & Founding Director, Center for Technology, Innovation and Competition, University of Pennsylvania
    • Moderator: Dr. Alexander Raskovich, Director of Research, Global Antitrust Institute (GAI), George Mason University – Antonin Scalia Law School

5:15 PM:   CONFERENCE ADJOURNS

EVENING:   THE SEVENTH ANNUAL LAW ROCKS WASHINGTON DC AT THE ACCLAIMED 9:30 CLUB

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2022

All times are in Eastern Daylight Time Zone (EDT)

8:00 – 9:00 AM:   REGISTRATION & CONTINENTAL BREAKFAST

9:00 – 10:30 AM:   PANEL 4: HOW WEAK PATENT RIGHTS DISTORT INNOVATION MARKETS

For over a decade and a half, the U.S. patent system has been weakened by a sequence of judicial and legislative actions.  Economic theory and history anticipate that this policy trajectory would distort the innovation economy by diverting R&D dollars away from technology sectors that are patent-dependent.  Our panelists will present data showing how VC and technology markets have largely responded as expected, shifting risk capital away from the high-cost and long-term R&D projects in the life sciences and IT hardware sectors that deliver the greatest social returns.

    • Sreekar Gadde, Executive Director, BlueTree Capital Group
    • Gary Lauder, Managing Director, Lauder Partners, LLC
    • Mark F. Schultz, Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company Chair in Intellectual Property Law & Director, Center for Intellectual Property Law and Technology, Akron Law; Senior Scholar, Center for Intellectual Property x Innovation Policy
    • David Taylor, Professor of Law; Director, Tsai Center for Law, Science, and Innovation, SMU Dedman School of Law
    • Moderator: Jonathan Barnett, Torrey H. Webb Professor of Law, University of Southern California Gould School of Law; Senior Fellow for Innovation Policy & Senior Scholar, Center for Intellectual Property x Innovation Policy

10:30 – 10:50 AM:   BREAK

10:50 AM – 12:20 PM:   PANEL 5: COPYRIGHT UNDER PRESSURE – WHAT PHASE ARE WE IN?

This session examines copyright and the pressures it has come under in recent years in order to evaluate how copyright looks from various perspectives, and in different jurisdictions. We will examine both judicial decisions and legislative reform efforts, and also ask related questions such as whether we are adequately considering moral rights, and the right of publicity; and whether efforts once promoted as benefitting creators such as NFTs are living up to their potential.

    • Clark Asay, Professor of Law, Brigham Young University J. Reuben Clark Law School
    • Orit Fischman-Afori, Professor of Law, The Haim Striks School of Law, College of Management Academic Studies (COLMAN)
    • Terry Hart, General Counsel, Association of American Publishers (AAP)
    • Karyn A. Temple, Senior Executive Vice President & Global General Counsel, Motion Picture Association (MPA)
    • Moderator: Sandra Aistars, Clinical Professor, George Mason University – Antonin Scalia Law School; Senior Fellow for Copyright Research and Policy & Senior Scholar, Center for Intellectual Property x Innovation Policy

12:20 – 1:30 PM:   LUNCH & KEYNOTE ADDRESS

    • Virtual Remarks by Sen. Thom Tillis, U.S. Senator for North Carolina
    • Q&A with Brad Watts, Minority Chief Counsel of the Senate Judiciary Committee Subcommittee on Intellectual Property

1:30 – 3:00 PM:   PANEL 6: TRADE SECRETS: WAXING WHILE OTHERS WANE?

Counter to the trend of limiting intellectual property rights, many countries have strengthened trade secret laws, and this panel will consider the reasons for and impact of stronger trade secret laws. The discussion will bring together researchers, leading attorneys, and industry representatives to consider the reasons that businesses and lawmakers have become more interested in trade secret protection, the effect of these changes on the business and economic environment, and how they affect innovation, collaboration, and employee mobility.

    • Victoria A. Cundiff, Partner, Litigation Department, Paul Hastings
    • Jonathan Hoganson, Corporate Vice President, Government Relations and Regulatory Affairs, AMD
    • Dr. Nicola Searle, Associate Professor, Institute for Creative and Cultural Entrepreneurship (ICCE), Goldsmiths, University of London
    • Moderator: Mark F. Schultz, Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company Chair in Intellectual Property Law & Director, Center for Intellectual Property Law and Technology, Akron Law; Senior Scholar, Center for Intellectual Property x Innovation Policy

3:00 – 3:20 PM:   BREAK

3:20 – 4:50 PM:   PANEL 7: CHINA-U.S. COMPETITION IN THE 21st CENTURY:  INNOVATION, INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY, AND ITS IMPACT ON NATIONAL SECURITY

Economic success is a key element of the growing national security competition between the United States and China, and many have assessed that innovation will be at the heart of the United States’ effort to keep itself ahead of China.  There is little question that the protection of intellectual property and the incentivization effect it has on the creation and expansion of an innovation economy will be critical to this effort.  This panel will look at key aspects of that effort.

    • Meghan Biery, Director of Government and Strategic Security Affairs, GlobalFoundries
    • Dan Prud’homme, Assistant Professor, Florida International University School of Business
    • Dr. Jon Putnam, Founder and Principal, Competition Dynamics, Inc.
    • Moderator: Jamil Jaffer, Founder and Executive Director, National Security Institute; Assistant Professor of Law and Director, National Security Law & Policy Program, George Mason University – Antonin Scalia Law School

4:50 – 5:00 PM:   CLOSING REMARKS

    • Prof. Sean M. O’Connor, George Mason University – Antonin Scalia Law School; Faculty Director, Center for Intellectual Property x Innovation Policy

5:00 – 6:30 PM:   SPECIAL CLOSING RECEPTION RECOGNIZING THE HONORABLE JOHN F. WITHERSPOON, PROFESSOR AND DIRECTOR EMERITUS, INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY PROGRAM, IN COOPERATION WITH GEORGE MASON LAW REVIEW


CONFERENCE SPONSORS

Sponsor Logos: Sustaining Sponsors: AAP, AbbVie, BIO, Copyright Alliance, Disney, Ericsson, Interdigital, MPA, MPEG LA, NBCUniversal, Nokia, PhRMA, Qualcomm, RELX, RIAA. Gold Sponsor: Dowd Scheffel PLLC. Silver Sponsors: Haug Partners, NBCUniversal. Valued Support: Compass Lexecon, Competition Dynamics, Elevecon, ITIF, MWZB. Institutional Partners: CIPIPL at UIC Law; CIPU; Fordham IP Institute; GIPC; IIPSJ; WALA